The Girl Next Door
Книга "The Girl Next Door", автором которой является Cynthia Eden, представляет собой захватывающую работу в жанре Зарубежные детективы. В этом произведении автор рассказывает увлекательную историю, которая не оставит равнодушными читателей.
Автор мастерски воссоздает атмосферу напряженности и интриги, погружая читателя в мир загадок и тайн, который скрывается за хрупкой поверхностью обыденности. С прекрасным чувством языка и виртуозностью сюжетного развития, Cynthia Eden позволяет читателю погрузиться в сложные эмоциональные переживания героев и проникнуться их судьбами. Eden настолько живо и точно передает неповторимые нюансы человеческой психологии, что каждая страница книги становится путешествием в глубины человеческой души.
"The Girl Next Door" - это не только захватывающая история, но и искусство, проникнутое глубокими мыслями и философскими размышлениями. Это произведение призвано вызвать у читателя эмоциональные отклики, задуматься о важных жизненных вопросах и открыть новые горизонты восприятия мира.
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He tasted her. He claimed. Heâ
âThe cop was still here,â Cooper growled against her lips. âI didnât want him suspicious.â
He was kissing her for a cover.
Had she moaned? Sheâd definitely sunk her nails into his shoulders. Sheâd even arched against him.
âI ⦠I know,â she lied. Their mouths were barely an inch apart. âThe kiss was a good idea.â
A car cranked. The engine growled.
âIâm guessing thatâs him,â Gabrielle said as she kept her hands on Cooper. But she did retract her nails. âPulling away?â
He nodded. âIâm not letting you go until heâs gone.â
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author CYNTHIA EDEN writes tales of romantic suspense and paranormal romance. Her books have received starred reviews from Publishers Weekly, and she has received a RITA>® Award nomination for best romantic suspense novel. Cynthia lives in the Deep South, loves horror movies and has an addiction to chocolate. More information about Cynthia may be found on her website, www.cynthiaeden.com, or you can follow her on Twitter (www.twitter.com/cynthiaeden).
Thank you so much to the fabulous staff at Mills & Boon Books. Working with you is a pleasure!
Contents
Chapter One
Cooper Marshall burst into the apartment, gun ready as his gaze swept the dim interior of the room that waited for him. âLockwood!â
There was no response to his call, but the stench in the airâthat unmistakable odor of death and bloodâtold Cooper that heâd arrived too late.
Again.
Damn it.
Cooper rushed deeper into that darkened apartment. Heâd gotten his orders from the top. Heâd been assigned to track down Keith Lockwood, an exâElite Operations Division agent. Cooper was supposed to confirm that the other man was alive and well. Heâd fallen off the EODâs radar, and that had sure raised a red flag in the mind of Cooperâs boss.
Especially since other EOD agents had recently turned up dead.
Cooper rounded a corner in the narrow hallway. The scent of blood was stronger. He headed toward what he suspected was the bedroom. His eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so it was easy for him to see the body slumped on the floor just a few feet from him.
He knelt, and his gloved fingers turned the body just slightly. Cooper pulled out his penlight and shone it on the dead manâs face.
Keith Lockwood. Cooper had never worked with the man on a mission, but heâd seen Lockwoodâs photos.
Lockwoodâs throat had been slit. An up-close kill.
Considering that Lockwood was a former navy SEAL, the man shouldnât have been caught off guard.
But he had been.
Because the killer isnât your average thug off the streets.
The killer was also an agent with the EOD, and the killer was trained just as well as Lockwood had been.
No, trained better.
Because the killer had been able to get the drop on the SEAL.
Cooperâs breath eased out in a rough sigh just as a knock sounded on the front door.
The front door that Cooper had just smashed open moments before.
He leapt to his feet.
âMr. Lockwood?â A feminine voice called out. âMr. Lockwood...i-is everything all right?â
No, things were far from all right. The broken door should have been a dead giveaway on that point.
âItâs Gabrielle Harper!â The voice called out. âWe were supposed to meet...â
His back teeth clenched. Talk about extremely bad timing. He knew Gabrielle Harper, and the trouble that the woman was about to bring his way was just going to make the situation even more of a tangled mess.
Cooper holstered his weapon. He had to get out of that apartment. Before Gabrielle saw him and asked questions that he couldnât answer for her.
He rose and stalked toward the bedroom window. His footsteps were silent. After all of his training, they should have been.
Gabrielleâs stepsâand her high heelsâtapped across the hardwood floor as she came inside the apartment.
Of course, Gabrielle wasnât just going to wait outside. She was a reporter, no doubt on the scent of a story.
And she must have scented the blood.
She was following that scent, and if he didnât move, fast, sheâd follow it straight to him.
Cooper opened the window then glanced down below. Three floors up. But there were bricks on the side of the building, with crevices in between them. If he held on just right, he could spider-crawl his way down.
The floor in the hallway creaked as Gabrielle paused.
She should have called for help by now. At the first sign of that smashed door, Gabrielle should have dialed 911. But, with Gabrielle what she should do and what she actually didâwell, those could be very different things.
If she wasnât careful, the woman was going to walk into real trouble one dayâthe kind that she wouldnât be able to walk away from.
He slid through the window. Since it was after midnight, Cooper knew heâd virtually disappear into the darkness when he climbed down the back side of the building.
